How To Experience Turkey Hunting In The Rain?

Benefits of turkey hunting in rains:

Trust me; rain can act as a catalyst to attract those gobbling heads towards your desired spots. Let me elaborate some of the most significant benefits that you can enjoy while hunting turkeys in rains:

1. You can be the solo hunter 

Imagine yourself with all eyes on the target and just when you are about to shoot it! You hear a shot, and your turkey is taken. Who likes that? No one. Right?  Believe it or not, rains can relegate this for you!

Usually, on a drizzly day, people tend to avoid turkey hunting as the nasty weather builds an uncomfortable and futile surrounding. However, this is an excellent opportunity for hunters to have the place all by themselves and avoid running into others who might steal your hunt from a distance as less than as 10 yards.  In the absence of other trappers, you can kill a gobbler even at a 500 to 600 yards distance away from you as there are no interruptions in between and the gobbler can walk towards your hunting calls without being shot on their path. Solo hunting adorns you with the freedom to roam in the woods and choose the best spot for yourself, which can be a real problem in a perfect daylight turkey hunting scenarios.

So why don't you use such an opportunity and maybe you will end up with the biggest hunt of your life.

2. Compromised hearing of turkeys during rains

If you were lucky, you might have seen a flock of gobblers in an open pasture on a rainy day; this is a result of the biological disturbances in turkeys during rains.

Turkeys are among the most skittish birds in the world. They tend to flee at the slightest unusual sound, and thus the noise of the pours on the leaves can annoy them.  Improper hearing during such downpours forces these birds to head towards open fields or pastures so that they can at least see at a distance and keep an eye on any approaching threats.

This is where you should be waiting for your perfect hunt.  So gear up and get into the woods in search for your gobbler!

3.  Exploit your smooth strides

Any idea what you should do when you can see a gobbler at a far distance but its reluctant to answer your calls or move closer so that you can aim?

Why don't you use those damp forest floors in your favour!

This is trivial but trust me, one of the major factors that work in your favour to hunt a tom at can be several yards away. Rains can make the forest floor moist and damp which can help you to move faster but smoothly without making any noise. Even, if your target is yards away and hesitant to proceed further, you can move closer to him so placidly without even scaring those timid creatures.

Isn't that wonderful to get a shot at your target from a distance less than 100 yards because the weather was in your favour? So go ahead and explore this, it will surely turn the tables into your side.

4. Grasp the pattern

Planning for an early morning turkey hunt, but the barometer forecasts a torrential downpour throughout the night. Well, that's how things for you…let me explain this to you.

Since it will be raining all night, the birds are going to stay in their roost until the sun rises. When the downpours finally halt, the dripping sounds in the woods can be a real annoyance for these rain-pelted toms, and that's when they preferably head towards the open field. This exact pattern is what you have to exploit for a great hunt. Imagine yourself to be already waiting there in the areas just before the rains stop; in most the cases you will be greeted with a bunch of gobblers.

Grab this opportunity, and surely you won't be disappointed.

Now when you are well aware of the catalysing effects of rains in turkey hunting, let's move on to some of the tricks and techniques that can ameliorate your hunting skills in mists.

Do's and Don’ts while turkey hunting in rains:

1.  Strategize your calls

When showers can take a toll on your hearing skills, undoubtedly, the birds are not an exception for this.  Hunting calls require a different frequency and pitch during rains, for obvious reasons.  Since the birds are having a difficult time hearing your calls, don't refrain yourself from using some volume. Try and increase the frequency of your calls from 20 to 30 mins to about 10 mins, so that you can beat the hindrance caused by the foul weather.

 However, always keep a check on these call frequencies, until the bird responds. Trust me, it is very difficult to achieve a target once you have scared the gobbler away by your aggressive calls. So, you need to decrement the frequency and aggressiveness of your calls, once a gobbler has responded to it; wait for the bird to march in your direction, and inevitably you will be greeted with some strutting.

2. Appropriate use of decoys

Decoys can be your real friends to attract some of the gobblers within a shooting range. The most important aspect of using a decoy is its positioning; you should set your bait at a location that is visible from all directions.

But what could go wrong, even when the decoys have successfully attracted your hunt?  You were not ready to shoot!

Thus, be on a total vigilance and hope for the best, you might fetch a great hunt for the day. However, setting up such decoys and waiting for them, can turn out to be a complete washout, until you are sure about the existence of these birds in your hunting areas. So, find the best spot and then get ready to enjoy a fantastic hunt.

3. Hunting calls for foul weather

Conventional calls such as hawks, crows or owls can be trifling on a drizzly day.  Hence, you need to opt for calls that can nullify the sound of the downpours and let your target reciprocate back. A lot of hunters, preferably use diaphragm yelpers and friction calls in foul weather. It seems pretty fruitful as these sounds can be high-pitched and suitable for a tom's response.

Anyways, always carry newspaper bags or plastics bread bags to keep your box calls dry, so that you can effectively use your calls for luring your target.

4. Gear up and hunt at a right pace

None of us likes to be disturbed by the pours and miss our target because we weren't well prepared. Thus, it is a good idea to set out in the wet woods with your best raingear and enjoy an uninterrupted hunt.

While hunting in a rainstorm, it is widely recommended to stay along the edges of the woods and use your binoculars to glass these birds, before you barge into the open grounds and scare your hunt away. Take paused strides along the logs, behind the trees and make sure that they don't see you because it that case you can pack up for the day and get going.

5. Cover more hunting grounds

It must be clear by now that hunting on a rainy day is entirely different from the traps that we set up on a beautiful sunny morning. Usually, turkey hunting in rains encourages various hunters to move around rather than to sit for hours in the woods, waiting for the birds to reciprocate back to their hunt calls; because most of the experienced trappers know that these gobblers can be out there in some open ground and hence it's wise to explore such places.

Thus, I recommend you stop brooding at one spot and move around to find a flock of these toms wandering somewhere in an open pasture or field.

Conclusions:

Turkey hunting in the rain is capable of sweeping in as one of your favourite adventures, all you need to do, is to gear up and head out and I am sure you will be more than thrilled by this experience. I hope this article helped you understand how rains can aid your hunting skills and elevate your chances of being an excellent gobbler catcher.

Believe me; a lot of hunters speak out their experience of meeting their most flaunted hunts in the worst weather. So why don't you give it a try and you can thank me later. Thus, let the rains keep your competitors at bay and while you ride out there in the woods with your target, all by yourself. Let us know all about your experiences and adventures of hunting these gobblers on a drizzly day. I can't wait to hear from you all, till then, happy hunting!